Done badly, a Brecht play is a preachy, cartoonish embarrassment. Done right, as in this new revival of “The Good Person of Szechwan,” it entertains even as it makes you think. A China-set morality parable translated from the German may not sound like a good reason to abandon Netflix for a night, but the show is a marvel of joyful heart and lo-fi ingenuity.
This Foundry company production has a lot going for it, including a terrific live bluegrass/country score by César Alvarez and the Lisps, as well Matt Saunders’ clever, perspective-defying set, with its cardboard houses.
But director Lear DeBessonet’s single best idea was to cast Taylor Mac in the title role.
In the past few years, the tall, bald, elaborately made-up Mac has emerged as an idiosyncratic presence in downtown shows like “The Lily’s Revenge.”
Mac usually writes his own material, but here he brings the same generosity and warmth to someone else’s vision — make it double vision, since he plays a woman who at times pretends to be a man. (The 1943 play’s title used to be translated as “The Good Woman” but it’s been “Person” for a while — which is particularly apt for this production.)
The story begins when three gods (Vinie Burrows, Mia Katigbak and Mary Shultz) come to Earth to find “good people, able to lead a decent human existence.” A local water-seller, Wang (the rubber-limbed David Turner, late of Broadway’s “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”), tries to help them but the locals are a selfish bunch.
The only person who offers shelter to the wandering gods turns out to be the local prostitute, Shen Te (Mac), a striking figure in red dress and ruby lips.
Yet even the generous Shen Te has a tough time holding on to her integrity. After she buys a tobacco factory, she dons a pinstripe suit, bowler hat and flamboyant mustache to disguise herself as her brusque male cousin: It’s just easier to boss people around as a man.
“But sadly in order to survive in this place,” she sings, “I’m forced to wear a cruel dictator’s face.”
Through her quest to remain true to herself no matter what clothes she’s wearing, our heroine meets an array of offbeat characters. They include hunky love interest Yang Sun (Clifton Duncan), who keeps a close eye on Shen Te’s money, and his mother, Mrs. Yang, played like a “Real Housewives of Long Island” type by Lisa Kron.
Kron — who co-wrote the hit musical “Fun Home,” which is also running at the Public — turns up again as landlady Mrs. Mi Tzu, and gives comic mugging a good name in both roles.
But there’s never any doubt that Mac is the show’s soul, the compass all others follow. Few other performers could make you believe that goodness is still possible in this world.